The first week of learning Arabic works best as a narrow, specific plan rather than an open-ended "start learning" goal. Here's a concrete version.
Focus entirely on recognizing letters and their sounds — not yet worrying about the positional forms (initial/medial/final) in depth. Getting comfortable with roughly a third of the alphabet by day 3 is a reasonable pace; there's no benefit to rushing all 28 letters in one sitting.
Start noticing how letters change shape when connected to their neighbors (see Arabic Alphabet), and begin sounding out very short, common words rather than isolated letters — this is where the alphabet starts feeling like a real writing system rather than a list to memorize.
Add a small set of high-frequency words with audio — greetings, numbers 1–10, a few nouns — read in Arabic script, not transliteration. Resist the urge to also start grammar this week; vocabulary and reading comfort come first.
By the end of week one, you should recognize most letters, sound out short familiar words, and know a small set of everyday vocabulary — a real, if modest, foundation to build on.
See also the reference page: Arabic for Beginners.
Roughly a third is a reasonable pace for the first 3 days — there's no benefit to rushing through all 28 letters in one sitting.
No — vocabulary and letter/reading comfort should come first; grammar sticks much better once there are already familiar words to apply the rules to.
Yes — keep harakat (vowel marks) visible until letter recognition is solid; reading unvoweled text is a later-stage skill, not a first-week one.
Around 20–30 high-frequency words (greetings, numbers, a few common nouns) learned with audio and read in Arabic script, not transliteration.